In Western Civilization, long before the cultivation of cotton and the advent of polyester fiber, one of the most used materials for clothing production was sheep's wool. As we all know, wool is great because it keeps one warm, even when it is wet. One way to get the benefit is to kill the sheep and take its pelt, known as 'fleecing.' Yet, if one shears the sheep, that means carefully cutting its wool with shears or clippers, he or she can harvest up to 30 pounds of wool a year per sheep, and sheep live up to 12 years. It goes without saying that 360 pounds of wool can make a lot of clothing, versus a single garment from a fleece. It is interesting to note that sheep also like being sheared. Just like the feeling you might get from a fresh haircut, a sheep is unburdened and cooler after a shearing. One can surmise that from the sheep's point of view, shearing is also a great alternative to getting fleeced.
I once had a salesman present me with an analogy of tending to sheep and customer service. He said that you can only 'fleece' a customer once, meaning cheat, overcharge, or give bad service. Yet, he said, if the experience is good for the customer, it is like shearing, as the customer will continue to come back to you and pay for the same service or goods over and over.
As we go into our fundraising season, I ask you to think of how our customer feels after dealing with us. Does he or she feel 'fleeced,' and therefore the transaction with us is one-time, meaning that next year the customer will go to another vendor? Or is the customer experience pleasurable, with him or her satisfied with the product, the price, and the service we provide, meaning that we are more likely to garner customer loyalty and repeat business? Truly, that loyalty is a two-way street, and it is through our loyalty that we earn the trust and confidence of our customer so that we enjoy repeat business.
A Scout is Loyal.